Crescendo
by Lateo0
Summary: For you life is a long trip. Terrifying and wonderful. (Teenage Carol and Daryl)
1. Chapter 1

Title: Crescendo

Disclaimer: I don´t own them.

Note: Daryl and Carol are seventeen. Merle is 10 years older. This is a AU and English is not my first language.

_For you life is a long trip_

_Terrifying and wonderful_

Henry Rollins - I Know You

Daryl glares when a kid accidently bumps into him, the kid practically runs away as if Daryl is some kind of axe murderer. But that's life. Daryl don´t go looking for trouble, he has enough of that at home, but the Dixon reputation has tainted him from the first day he entered school.

He remembered that day. He had been so excited, just a little kid proud of the new clothes (well almost new) his mom had gotten him. The teacher had been nice enough at first, but it didn´t take long before the other kids started giving him shit about being a Dixon.

"My daddy says your daddy's been in jail."

"My mom says I can't play with you."

And when anything bad happened, guess who was always the first suspect? One day, after his mum died, he was about seven, Merle had picked him up from school. Daryl was waiting outside alone. The other kids keeping their distance. Snickering at Merles old beat up truck.

"Hey little man." Merle said when he got in the car. Daryl just chews on his tump.

"What's wrong? Cat got your tongue?"

"Nothing." Daryl mumbles.

Merle looks a little puzzled, then he narrows his eyes and looks at the clean happy kids and their parents outside the school. "Well shiiit." He starts the car and while they drive, gives his very own version of comforting words.

"Little fuckers giving you shit ain't they?", "Well fuck that!" He reaches over and pulls Daryl's hand away from his mouth. "Don´t let those assholes get you down. I got your back little brother - ´bout time I taught you to fight anyway."

That day Merle gets him ice cream and teaches him some moves. That night he takes a beating Daryl had coming because…well he can´t remember. His Dad don´t always need a reason.

Later that year Merle turned eighteen and got the hell out of there.

But the next time some little shit teases Daryl about his ratty clothes or the fact, that he don't get a bath all that often; Daryl fucking breaks his nose. They mostly leave him alone after that. All alone.

Her parents are fighting in the kitchen, so she takes the front door, even though that means she has to go without breakfast. When she was younger, she would cry when her Dad hit her mommy and try to stop him. Mom even left him a few times. But she always came back and Carol isn't little any more. She knows something now, she didn´t back then. It will never stop.

Carol runs her hand over her shaved head. Her Dad went ballistic when he saw her new hairstyle. But it was important for Carol, it´s her way of saying "Fuck you!" to all the little prom queens wannabes, who teases her every day; because she's new in town and don´t wear brand jeans.

She stops at the gas station on the corner and borrows the bathroom. She took a bath this morning, but there are still smutches left of yesterday's makeup. She draws black eyeliner thickly around her eyes and decides she´s good to go. She likes her outfit; black ripped pantyhose, a shocking pink tank top and a black shorts. She has six rings in her left ear and four in her right. She´d like to get her nose pierced to, but that´s tempting fate with a Dad like hers.

He seldom hits her, but he loves to humiliate her, make her feel worthless. Tell her how no one will ever want her and how she will be an old maid for life. "Now look at that?" He will say and point at her. "What guy will want to marry a girl that dresses like a clown?" Then he´ll say, "You're a nice girl Carol. Hell even not all that dumb, but I didn´t pick your mom for her brains." Her mom just looks down and says nothing, when he says things like that.

She braces herself for the oncoming day and goes to school.


	2. Chapter 2

Next period is science. Daryl leans back in the chair. He always sits with his back to the wall and all know this. The chair next to him is empty and he´s almost drifted off to sleep when the new girl sits down in it. He gives her a look and she just glares right back.

The teacher doesn´t call on him, they seldom do. He gets a little rest and wonders what he´ll do for food tonight. His options are limited; he can hope, that the old man has remembered, he has a kid and left some food in the house. He can try to shoplift or he can hunt. The last solution seems to be the best. They aren´t too fond of him at the supermarket.

After school, he gets the crossbow his Grandpa gave him before he died. Gramps was a drunk but not a mean one and if he hadn´t taught Daryl to hunt, there would have been a lot more hungry days in his life.

He gets a squirrel right away, so he decides to go to the lake. It´s a hot day and a soak would be nice. The lake is his secret place, it´s where he goes to relax and be alone.

He is about to remove his Metallica t-shirt when someone speaks.

"Umm." She says and he realises it´s that girl from class.

The thought that she almost saw his scarred body infuriates him. "What the fuck!" He says as he turns around. She is sitting behind some tall grass, that´s why he didn´t see her.

As she gets up, she pulls her shorts back on, and he realise, she was properly peeing.

He blushes and she does to. He has no idea what to say to her.

"So umm. I didn´t know anyone else comes here." She says.

"Well umm." He says, sounding like a moron.

"Hey is that your crossbow?"

"Yeah."

"Cool." She says, and adds "Your Daryl Dixon, right? My names Carol." Daryl wants to say that he don´t give a shit what the girls name is. Instead, he finds himself answering her question about his crossbow and shows her the squirrel he caught. Suddenly they´ve been talking for an hour, and some people might call the feeling, he is having, disappointment, when she has to go home.

Next day Carol sees him at lunch. He is sitting alone and she joins him. He seems a little startled and he has bruises on his face.

When she asks about them, he says he fell. Carols mom falls a lot too, so she knows not to pursue the subject.

"Tell me the truth," she says and he tenses "It was a squirrel, wasn´t it?" He shock them both by laughing and she joins him.

He is cute when he smiles.

"But seriously, I've been wondering, what do you do with all the pelts?" she says.

"Throw them out."

"You should save them. You could make something cool."

"What like a fur coat? Like some pimp coat?"

"No." She laughs, "I get your point but maybe you could make a blanket or something…"

"Maybe…" Both of them are silent for a while, lost in thought.

The next couple of weeks, she finds herself seeking out his company. It isn´t just, that she has no friends at this school or because they are both outcast. There´s something special about Daryl.

She´ll overhear the other kids complaining about how they didn´t get the shirt they wanted or how their parents did something unfair and it astonishes her how they can be so innocent about the world.

Life isn´t fair. Life is watching your Dad beat your Mom. Life is your Dad telling you, you are nothing. Life is painful.

But Daryl…without ever having said anything. She knows that he knows this too.


	3. Chapter 3

He has the squirrel pelt tacked down, and is rubbing salt into it, when he hears the roar of a motorcycle. He goes to the front of the house and there´s Merle.

"Well look what the cat dragged in." He says.

"Hey little brother." Merle says as he gets of the bike. Even though he calls, It´s been two months since he visited last. "Look who´s all tall and shit. Got any hair on your balls yet?"

"Shut up." Daryl says but can´t help smiling like an idiot. Merle slaps him on the back and asks if the coast is clear.

"Yeah, he ain´t home. Haven´t been for a couple of days." Daryl says.

"Shiiit, at least that´s something. I need a shower, food and pussy and not necessarily in that order." Merle says and peals of his crusty leather jacket. It´s real cool with cloth wings sewn on the back of it.

"Well, we ain´t got no food, but the showers working again."

"Well I should have known that.", "What about pussy? You gotten some stink on your finger little brother?"

Daryl feels himself blush and says "Shut up." Merle just laughs.

Merle has money. So after his shower they order a pizza- it´s nice to get some proper food. Merle asks how the old man is treating him and he lies and says it isn´t too bad. He don´t want Merle to think he´s a pussy and if Merle knew the full extent, of what their dad does to Daryl, Merle would do something and land himself in jail.

Later the phone rings and it´s Carol. She wants to know, if he wants to meet in the woods tomorrow, and he says, he can´t, because his brother is home, but he´ll get back to her. He tries to keep the conversation short, but can already feel Merles curious eyes on him. He hopes, he will not say anything. But then this is Merle.

Daryl sits down avoiding eye contact. Merle does his thing.

"So who was that?"

"Just…you know…"

"Thought I heard the name Carol." Merle says and Daryl´s face turns so red, he feels like it´s melting. Merle busts out laughing. "Well look at you! Got women calling up begging for it."

"SHUT UP! It´s not like that."

"Oh really."

"She´s a nice girl, ok, just…don´t."

"A nice girl, huh? Well shit. Those are rare. Better not fuck it up little brother." Merle says and gives him Merles version of the birds and the bees. Daryl tries to stop him but Merle grinds on about how real sex differ from porn and how he has to lick that pussy.

He goes on and on and Daryl is relieved when Merle finally leaves to hang out with some old friends.

With Daryl busy with his brother, Carol has nothing to do that day. She spends it at home with her Mom. Her Dad is at work so it´s just the two of them. Her Mom always have back pains; being punched repeatedly in the kidneys will do that to a person, so Carol helps her clean.

Cleaning is not just a matter of having a tidy house. Cleaning is like religion to her

Mom. Certain rituals have to be performed, in order not to anger the Gods, or in this case her Dad. Carol has seen her Dad hit her mom for as small a reason, as there being a little lint behind the couch.

So they clean an already clean house, and not until everything is sparkling clean, do they sit down to share a soda.

"Are you still seeing that boy, Honey?" Her Mom asks. Carol´s mentioned Daryl to her.

"Yes, but his brother is visiting, so he´s busy right now."

"I just hope your careful. I heard things about those Dixon boys." And Carol wants to scream, look who´s talking. Is the woman, who stays with a man, who beats her up regularly giving me relationship advice.

"It´s not like that, Mom. We´re just friends. Besides Daryl isn´t like that. He´s…nice."

"As long as you're sure." Her Mom gives her a sad smile and gets up, winching as she moves.

She loves her Mom. She really does. But the older Carol gets, that love is more and more mixed with pity and disappointment. Carol´s known for a while now, that her mother's fear of her father, is greater than her love for her daughter.

Daryl calls that night and they talk for an hour.


	4. Chapter 4

Merle stays for a couple of days this time, and the Gods are merciful, because during his stay, his Dad is away – properly on some bender.

He meets her in their place in the woods and he shows her Merles leather jacket. Merle let him keep it. He knows it´s a little bit too big on him, but she thinks it´s cool too.

Usually she leaves at dusk, but it´s like they can´t bear to tear apart that day. She brought a blanket for them to sit on, and Daryl wishes, he thought of that.

She asks him to tell her about his brother, and he speaks about, how it´s been him and Merle against the world, ever since his mother died.

"What about your Dad?" She says and he tenses up. The anger in his voice surprises them both "That man might be my blood, but he ain´t no Dad to me." He gives her a look out of the corner of his eye and nervously chew his thumb.

She sighs, and then she says in a voice so low, he almost can´t hear her "I feel that way about my Dad too." "He hits my Mom and he…he says mean things to me." She starts tearing up and Daryl feels like, he would do anything to stop her crying. He awkwardly puts his arm around her shoulders, and she leans in to him.

Daryl says, "Once when I was thirteen- years- old, I broke a window. I didn´t do it on purpose, I was just messing around with a football and it happened. You know."

"You were just being a kid." She says.

"Yeah and he beat the hell out of me with a willow branch. I had to stay in bed for a couple of days. Still got the scars on my back from that time. But then I have a lot of scars." He sighs, this is the first time he ever told everyone, and he feels drained, but also oddly relieved

* * *

When he tells her that, the dam bursts, and Carol find herself sobbing into his chest. He just gently rubs her back.

After a while, she pulls back and before she can second-guess it, she timidly kiss him on the lips. He hesitates and then he kisses her back. It´s a chaste closed mouthed kiss at first, because they are both inexperienced.

He smells of soap and healthy male sweat and something about that scent excites her. She parts her lips a little and experimentally touches the tip of her tongue to his.

He moans and then time disappears, and there is nothing but sensation. At some point, they most have laid down, for she finds herself half on top of him, his hands on her back.

Her nipples are hard against his chest and she can feel his excitement.

"I really like you Daryl." She whispers shyly.

"I really like you too." He says.

* * *

Daryl feels like the king of the world, when he goes home in the early dawn. She likes him! She kissed him! He was surprised, when she did it, and he hope, he didn´t suck at it. He never kissed a girl before – but she seemed to like it and she likes him!

He is so lost in his thoughts, that it isn´t before he step inside the house, that he notice all the lights are on. That ain´t a good sign.

His Dad roughly grabs his arm. "Where the hell have you been all night!"

Daryl flinches, but can´t pull loose.

"Just…" His Dad don´t let him finish the sentence.

"Some girls parents called me. Said she hasn´t been home all night. Asked if she was with you."

Daryl don´t get it. Carols parents don´t have his number. His Dad sees the confusion on his face and says "We´re in the phonebook, Moron!"

Daryl just stutters and suddenly his Dad lets go and chuckles. "Well hell. Guess I can´t blame you. Did you give it to her good?"

Daryl don´t know what to say.

"Get your ass in bed." His Dad smiles, an unusual thing to see.

Daryl tempts faith and asks, "What did you tell her parents?"

"Shit, I said it ain´t my business, if their daughter´s a ho. Said they can´t expect a teenage boy to stay away if she´s out there begging for it."

And all Daryl can think is, shit, shit, shit. Because Carol´s Dad ain´t a nice man.


	5. Chapter 5

Carol is grounded for a month, but she sees Daryl in school every day and they both get cheap cell phones, so they talk every night. She tells him most of what happened, when she came home that day.

How her Mom cried and her dad yelled. How he nailed her window shut and slapped her face. She leaves out the part, where her Dad called her a whore and how her mom got a beating that night for not raising Carol right.

As the months go by, they become more and more intimate. Slowly they move through the bases until one night Daryl has her nipple in his mouth and is stroking her until she comes for the first time, in a shuddering cry. He tells her, he loves her that night, and she tells him, she loves him more than anything else in the world.

She does some things for him too and they begin to make plans.

Carol turns eighteen in January. Daryl in Juli. They both get part-time jobs and start saving money. Once graduation is over, their parents are in for a surprise.

* * *

Merle always asks about Carol, when he calls. Part of it is, Daryl knows, because Daryl is still shy about Carol and Merle likes to bust his balls. But there is also a genuine interest there. Besides Carol, Merle is the only one, who gives a shit about him and Merles happy for him.

But lately Merles been talking about meeting her, next time he visits, and that freaks Daryl the fuck out.

Carol´s great about it, he shouldn´t have doubted her. She says that she heard the stories, but she likes to make up her own opinion about people. Besides, if Merle is important for Daryl, then he´s important for her too.

He´s so happy. He even agrees for her plans for a picnic.

"A picnic?!" Merle says and burst into laughter. "She…wants…to..picnic…with the Dixons!" Merle is almost pissing himself. He hadn´t even gotten of the bike, before he asked about Carol.

"Yeah so what!" Daryl says.

Merle wipes tears of laughter from his eyes. "Easy there little brother. I´ll like me a picnic." Daryl is relived, but then Merle says "…and then we can braid each others hair."

"MERLE!"

"God al mighty, you´re whipped."

"So what. Least I got a girlfriend." Daryl says.

"Touche, brother, touche. She must be some woman."

* * *

The have the picnic in a meadow- it´s not by the lake – that´s her and Daryl's special place, but the meadow is nice and sunny too.

She brought plenty of food. For a slender person, Daryl can really eat a lot, and she wouldn´t be surprised, if his elder brother is the same way.

Merle Dixon is very muscular and a little scary looking. He wears a black wife beater and a leather vest. Daryl hovers behind him as they approach.

Merle looks her up and down and extends his hand. "Well, so this is the little woman."

She takes his big rough hand, introduces herself and asks them to sit down.

Daryl sits between them, she finds herself blabbering about her day and Daryl isn´t a big help, he just sort of grunts. Merle just watches their interaction, like it´s the most fascinating thing, he´s ever seen.

Finally, he says something "So what´s a pretty little thing like you doing with a Dixon?"

"I have a fetish for squirrel meat." She says.

For a minute, the both just stare at her, and then Darryl blushes, and Merle is roaring with laughter.

"Well my boy here, ain´t much bigger than one." He says and slaps Daryl on the back, almost making him fall over.

"You´d be surprised." And Carol can´t believe she just said that. She looks at Merle and Merle looks at her. They both look at Daryl who seems to be turning purple and burst out laughing.

"Carol! Merle" Daryl is appalled.

"I´m so sorry Daryl." She means it too, but she just can´t stop laughing.

After that, they eat and have as much as a normal conversation as, (she suspects) you can have with Merle Dixon.

Merle have none of the sweetness and gentleness, that´s a part of who Daryl is. However, she sees a love in there for Daryl, hidden behind macho bullshit and showing of.

They eat all of the food.


	6. Chapter 6

The picnic goes well, despite his embarrassment. Carol is great and Merle declares her a "Nice lady." That term means, Merle just moved her into the very small select group of women, he actually respects.

He tells Merle about their plans and, Merle says, he´ll be back, when the time comes to help them out.

Carol graduate in the top of her class. Daryl barely pass, but then he didn´t make an effort, Carol did. She´s so smart and could do much better than a redneck like him. That night she has to stay with her parents, they are taking her out for dinner. Daryl didn´t bother telling his dad he graduated. His dad doesn´t care anyway, but Merle calls.

Next night they meet. They are making out, kissing and grinding into ecstasy, when she says, she´s ready for more. Daryl is caught between a feeling of wanting that more than anything and a tremendous fear of hurting her.

He knows it hurts for the girl the first time. Like always she takes control. She strokes him, until he has to stop her from fear of coming right there and then. He lowers her onto her back and undresses her, fondling and kissing her breasts, while she runs her fingers through his hair.

He leaves a trail of kisses down her stomach and uses his fingers and tongue on her, until she is gasping and clinging to him. He puts on the condom, he has been carrying with him for a while now, and as he positions himself against her entrance, he asks her if she´s sure about this.

Her eyes never leaves his, as she says she is. With one steady push, he breaks her hymen. She gasps in pain and he stays still, letting her adjust to having him inside her. She is warm and slick and tight, so tight. He moves inside of her and it is haven. He doesn´t last long this first time. He sinks onto her, and she caresses his hair, kissing him, telling him how much she loves him.

Second time, he makes damn sure, she comes too.

* * *

On Daryl's 18 birthday, they move in together. The only thing they can afford is a crappy one-bedroom apartment. Merle comes back, like he promised, and though she never asks, she knows he´s the reason, her dad don´t make more of a fuss about it.

Her dad hit her when she told him. Daryl wants to kill her dad, when he sees her black eye, but Merle stops him. Says there is no point in Daryl leaving a nice lady like her to go to jail.

Daryl calms down a bit, when she pleads with him not to do anything. But the next day, she sees her dad in town and he is black and blue. He turns in the other direction at the sight of Carol and limbs in another direction.

When she gets home from work, Daryl and Merle ends the conversation, they were having, as she enters. She notices Merles knuckles are bruised and Daryl seems worried.

Life goes on.

Daryl gets a full time job in construction. Carol takes a couple of classes at night school. Merle occasionally visits.

The only thing they can afford is a crappy one-bedroom apartment. But they make it a home.

The end

* * *

Thank you to those who liked it. I had fun writing it. Maybe I´ll make sequel, have our guys grow up a bit and deal with walkers. I´ll have to see if inspiration strikes.


End file.
